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Best Show FUN-draising Marathon

Oh, hi there! It’s Tom Scharpling! The host of The Best Show On WFMU! You know me, right?

We are into Week Two of the WFMU fundraising marathon. If you are not aware of it, this is how the station raises money to stay on the air. The station is 100 percent listener sponsored. We don’t run ads and we don’t take corporate funding or government grants. And that’s what keeps the station 100 percent freeform, letting me do something as willfully stupid as The Best Show On WFMU every Tuesday, letting me and Jon Wurster do our thirty-five minute calls without commercial interruption or editorial feedback from anyone at any point.

My second and final Best Show for the 2010 marathon is this Tuesday March 9th between 8-11 PM EST. And if you’re a fan of Scharpling and Wurster or me or the people who call or the guests I have on or the podcast or freeform radio or stations that shouldn’t exist in the face of all the corporate creepiness, it’s a cause worth supporting. If we don’t reach our goal of 1.2 million dollars by the end of the marathon, we are In Trouble.

If you want to throw some support, please call 800-989-9368 or pledge online at http://www.wfmu.org BETWEEN 8-11 PM EST ON MARCH 9th! In addition to your money going to a worthy cause, you get a lot of stuff back.

Everybody who pledges 75 bucks or more automatically gets The Best Show On WFMUâs 2010 CHUMP STEAMROLLER FUN PACK. I’ve been cranking on this thing for awhile and it’s going to be AWESOME. But first let me tell you about the show on Tuesday March 9th between 8-11 PM EST.

We are going to have two awesome guys in the studio helping to raise money. The one and only PATTON OSWALT is going to be on hand with the hilarity. And if that’s not enough, the comedic force of nature that is JOHN HODGMAN also be LIVE IN THE STUDIO! There are going to be surprises galore and it is a guaranteed night of non-stop fun.

Now the details about The Best Show On WFMU 2010 CHUMP STEAMROLLER FUN PACK.

The first item in the Fun Pack is the first ever BEST SHOW ON WFMU DVD! It’s a full-length DVD called FANTASIA IN BEST SHOW MINOR, and it’s going to be amazing. It features stuff you’re never going to believe. Here are some of the people who are going to be involved in the DVD:

And SO MANY MORE. There’s going to be puppets. Animation. Scharpling and Wurster stuff like you’ve never seen before. Travelogues from callers like Fredericks from New Port Richie, Julie from Cincinnati, AP Mike and more! Seriously – there are so many people working so hard on this thing. It’s gonna be legendary. And when the marathon is over, this thing is COMPLETELY UNVAILABLE.

The second part of the Chump Steamroller Fun Pack is a set of BEST SHOW TRADING CARDS depicting your favorite callers and characters from the show. They are being designed by Chris Moses and Joe Allen – two guys who have done amazing jobs with previous Best Show projects – and they are outdoing themselves on this! We’re lining up artists – for starters Michael Kupperman, Danny Hellman, Evan Dorkin and Brian Musikoff are on board – and they gonna be jaw droppingly great. And again, these cards will be GONE FOREVER if you don’t pledge DURING MY MARATHON SHOWS!

Last but not least, the first ever BEST SHOW BUMPER STICKER. Also awesome and also available ONLY BY PLEDGING DURING MY MARATHON SHOWS.

Once the marathon is over, THEY ARE GONE FOREVER.

There are pledge levels at $150, $365, $500, $1000 and $3000, and the station takes care of you big-time with a TON of awesome prizes and shirts and CDs that you can’t get anywhere else. And unlike that PBS or NPR crap, WFMU’s premiums are all top-notch and well made – who hasnât seen a cool WFMU t-shirt in their travels? And everything is 100 percent TAX DEDUCTABLE!

And as an added bonus, anyone who pledges $1000 gets something special just from me. It’s a secret. Seriously – I know I’m being vague here but trust me on this one. I’ve got something JUST FOR YOU. I’ll make you happy with it – I PROMISE.

We will also be drawing for three AMAZING GRAND PRIZES at the end of the show. Grand Prize #1 is a COMPLETE MONTY PYTHON DVD set AUTOGRAPHED BY TERRY GILLIAM! Grand Prize #2 is the MISFITS BOX SET – one of the greatest bands ever, with all their stuff in an amazing coffin-shaped box! Grand Prize #3 is a ROBERT POLLARD/BOSTON SPACESHIPS super set! If you win this, you will get a ton of Boston Spaceships vinyl, a limited BS block print that is as yet unavailable and a 7″ test pressing of an upcoming single with a printed sleeve – there are only FIVE OF THESE IN EXISTENCE! Everyone who pledges 75 bucks or more will be in the running for these prizes, but you can only be in the running by pledging DURING MY SHOW!

And if you want to support the station but don’t have the money right now, YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY YOUR PLEDGE RIGHT AWAY! The station sends you a bill in the mail and you can take care of it later. You can structure your payments in EASY MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS! But the important thing is pledging and being a part of something Good in a world that is filled with Too Much Bad, especially in These Troubling Times.

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO CALL OR PLEDGE ONLINE DURING MY SHOW, I will gladly write the pledge up myself. You can email me your information – name, address and pledge amount – and I will fill it out myself. All addresses and information is completely confidential and is not sold or distributed in any way shape or form, so don’t worry about your privacy. Write me at toms@wfmu.org and I’ll take care of it.

And PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS! Put it on Facebook and Twitter and MySpace and maybe even Friendster if you can still remember your password. Post it on like-minded message boards! Tell co-workers and friends and family members and whoever! The station has a huge mountain to climb this time, but we can do it if enough people step up to the plate and pitch in.